A bullet dropped from a certain height and another fired horizontally from the same height will hit the ground simultaneously, as gravity acts on both equally and their falling rate is independent of any horizontal velocity.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question is about whether a bullet that is dropped from a certain height and another bullet that is fired horizontally from the same height will hit the ground simultaneously or at different times, assuming no air resistance. According to the laws of physics, particularly pertaining to projectile motion, both bullets will hit the ground at the same time. This is because the downward acceleration due to gravity is constant at 9.8 m/s2 and acts on both bullets equally, irrespective of any horizontal velocity that the fired bullet might have. This concept was famously demonstrated by Galileo and helps us understand motion in two dimensions.
This principle is further illustrated by considering what different observers see when an object is dropped. Even though the paths may look different to observers in different frames of reference, like the sailor on a ship dropping binoculars as described in the reference example, the result is that the object's rate of fall is unaffected by its horizontal velocity, and thus both the dropped and fired bullets will reach the ground simultaneously.